MISSOURI

POSITIVES:

• None

NEGATIVES: 

• Missouri's PTA has a threshold of 36 days.

• Missouri's PTA has a significant discontinuity (or discontinuities), creating a significant cliff effect or multiple cliff effects.

• Missouri's PTA significantly overestimates the fixed, duplicated costs involved in shared parenting.

• Missouri's PTA takes into account the effect on the payer parent's household only conditional on the recipient parent's income.

• Missouri's PTA inappropriately results in a presumptive child support payment when parental income and parenting time are equal.

POSITIVES:

• Missouri statutes require courts to consider a “friendly parent” factor in determining the child’s best interest. MO. REV. STAT. § 452.375

• Recent legislative changes directing State Administrator to create handbook maximizing parenting time is potentially a strong step but needs jurisprudence to confirm this potentially strong step.

• Missouri statute includes a declaration of public policy that “frequent, continuing and meaningful contact with both parents” is in the best interest of the child except for specified cases such as abuse. It directs the courts to select a custody arrangement that will best assure such contact. MO. REV. STAT. § 452.375

NEGATIVES: 

• Although Missouri statutes lists “[j]oint physical and joint legal custody to both parents” first on a list of custody arrangement that it requires courts to consider saying, “the court shall consider each of the following as follows”, the language does not rise to the level of a legal preference. MO. REV. STAT. § 452.375

• Missouri has no presumption shared parenting (joint legal custody and shared physical custody) for temporary or final orders.

• Missouri statutes do not explicitly provide for shared parenting during temporary orders.

• Strong language promoting maximum parenting time directed in handbook is contradicted by weaker statutory policy wording promoting “frequent, continuing and meaningful contact with both parents.”

Highlights:

In instances of divorce or separation:

• 80% of those in Missouri believe it is in children's best interest to have as much time as possible with each parent;

• 80% agree that parents should have equal access to and responsibility for their children;

• 85% believe children would benefit from having equal time with both fit parents;

• 88% feel that children have the right to spend equal or near equal time with both parents.

Missouri proclaimed April 26 “Shared Parenting Day” in 2020. State Chair Linda Reutzel led this effort. Read more here.